Page 72 of The King's Omega
“Lass,” Lorn sighed. “Axe is chained so well, not even Tarn could pick him loose. Tarn is… well, he may not survive. His back is already infected; it’s much worse than you can see. Rigol’s at death’s door as well. Selene ordered our troops to stand down five days ago, and many of them deserted. I would fight alongside you, but it’s folly. You must escape. I’ll help you plan a way—”
I put my hand over his mouth. “No. I already have a plan.”
“Which is?”
“King Rigol’s original one.”
He stopped chewing. “You’ll mate with him and give him your Omega gifts?” He looked around as if to say, “so, what are you doing here?”
I couldn’t stop the laugh that slipped out. “You know, for a bunch of smart men, you’re really not very observant.” I finished wiping Tarn’s face and held a grape to his mouth. He couldn’t eat it, so I squeezed some juice in between his lips. “Tarn may be the cleverest one among you, and even he didn’t see it.”
“What do you mean?”
Slowly, I started unlacing my corset. “I mean, in the book Vilkurn and Rigol both read me about Omegas, the part that was written on the edge—”
“The Battle of Belgorn?”
“That’s the one. You assumed the Omega made love with the king, and that’s how she gave her gifts. What the book actually said was that Cyndil received her lovers and gave them all her gifts.Allher lovers, not just the king. You just assumed that she was solely the King’s Omega.”
“That’s what the seer called you.”
“Well, possibly, although I’m fairly sure she was talking about King Milian. That’s what he calls his harem—the King’s Omegas—and I was the missing one until recently.” I wrinkled my nose. “They named me Theodora. Ugh. Horrible name.”
“We knew he had a harem, but… Milian has Omegas? More than Selene?” Lorn’s eyebrow lifted slowly, as if he were intrigued. I fought back a growl. I was the only Omega who was coming to rescue him, and the only one he needed to wonder about.
“I’ll tell you later, and he doesn’t have them anymore. Vilkurn promised to rescue them. All you need to know is this.” I fought back a blush. “If I can open for one of you,” I swallowed hard, “one gift gives strength. If Axe were ten times stronger, I’m sure even those chains wouldn’t hold him. And I think another gift is for healing, because of the ‘invulnerable to swords or arrows’ bit. If it works, whatever the gift is, I could use it to heal Tarn and you, and then we could get to Rigol…”
Suddenly, his lips were on mine. He tasted of cheese, grapes, and fresh bread, and smelled of—I pushed him away. “Wipe clean with some rags, Lorn. You’re ripe!”
“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “There’s only one bucket of water. We have to save it for drinking.”
“Not now. The door’s unlocked.” I nodded at the partially opened door to the tunnels. “Go get some things, will you? Don’t go too far; I think Selene knows her way around the tunnels, too.”
Axe was gesturing frantically, and Lorn groaned. “I know, Axe. I should take her and Tarn and go. If I can get him to a wagon, we could hit the pass to Starlak in—”
“I’m not leaving here without Axe,” I interrupted. “And we don’t have to. I want to try my plan first.”
Lorn was shaking his head, and I grabbed his hands in mine. “Lorn, there’s no guarantee we’d get out safely, and they will execute Rigol and Axe if we do it your way. Maybe Tarn, too. I know my plan sounds impossible… but I have this feeling it could work.”
He shook his head. “The seer said the King’s Omega would mate with the king and save Rimholt.”
A thought occurred to me. “Who steps in if Rigol isn’t able to perform his duties? Isn’t there a… like a stand-in king?”
“An heir?”
“Yes. I heard Rigol tell Vilkurn Axe was his heir. Rigol’s unconscious so isn’t Axe the king right now? I mean until Rigol gets better.”
Lorn’s mouth hung open. “By the Goddess, you’re right.”
Axe was signing again, and he met my eyes. “Too dangerous. Run with Lorn. Love you.”
“You love me?” I stepped forward, as Lorn mumbled a quick farewell to Tarn and me and slipped out the open tunnel door. I hoped he was getting more water. “Really, Axe?”
“Yes.” His eyes got brighter as I stepped closer.
“The seer told me something, too. She said to give myself to the one my heart sings for, and that then I could save him and all his brothers.” I reached for a cloth and the bucket of water that sat near him, using the metal cup floating in the pail to sluice water down his naked chest. “You’re the one my heart sings for, Axe.” Slowly, methodically, I cleaned every inch of skin I could reach: face, arms, chest, even his feet.
I frowned at the trousers that kept me from reaching the rest of him. “I wish I were strong like you and could rip them off. Wait!” I ran back to the bundle and found the cheese knife I’d brought. “This might work.”
